Madhu Knits and Cooks

Weeknight Pinto Beans - Lessons Learned As We Enter Bean Season

Is there anything more comforting than warm, creamy beans on a cold night outside?  Well, perhaps said beans in a lovely soup. 

I am more than ready for the fall and winter days ahead with an embarrassing amount of Rancho Gordo beans in our pantry.  I started my seasonal bean preparation with an impromptu weeknight pinto bean dish a few weeks ago.

These beans were flavorful, but both not as complex or time consuming as my favorite pinto bean approach to date - the Cook's Illustrated Drunken Beans.  I also learned the appropriate (soaked) pinto beans Instant Post cooking time - 31 - 33 minutes - something I learned after starting the cooking settings for 25 minutes, then adding another 7 minutes after the beans were not fully cooked.  As I look for comforting, simple bean dishes this year, this recipe will become a staple!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pinto beans, soaked in water for 6 hours
• 1/4 onion, diced
• 1/4 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 tsp chile powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• Shake of dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• salt, to taste
• cilantro, chopped (optional - for garnish)

Directions

• Drain soaked beans and add ~1 cup fresh water, oregano, and bay leaf to the Instant Pot inner pot.
• Set the cooking settings to 31 minutes on high pressure.  Ensure the safety valve is closed.
• After the cook time is over, let the pressure cooker go through its natural pressure release process (~20 minutes)
• Then check the beans to ensure they are your desired consistency.  Switch the Instant Pot setting to saute, and add remaining ingredients, including 1 tsp. of salt to taste.
• Cook for an additional 7 - 10 minutes until the beans absorb the flavor of the seasonings.  Garnish with cilantro if desired and serve immediately.

Pizza Dough with a Food Processor? If Chris Kimball Says So...I Will Try!

I have one tried-and-true pizza dough recipe that has yet to be displaced, despite many attempts at new dough preparations.  Could I be narrowing in on an alteration that could take this recipe standard to the next level?  Cautiously, yes. 

The recipe innovation?  Kneading the dough in the food processor instead of by hand, a tip we picked up listening to Christopher Kimball's Milk Street podcast.  Kimball made a passing reference to using a food processor for pizza dough, sparking our minds that this could be the accelerant to extra delicious dough.

Fueled by this tip, I found a Williams Sonoma food processor dough recipe online.  I added 3 teaspoons of the King Arthur Flour pizza dough flavor to this fairly standard recipe.  With a regular metal food processor attachment - not a special dough attachment - I developed very smooth and glossy dough in just under a minute of processing.  I then halved the dough into two balls, covered them in olive oil, and put them in the fridge for a 24 hour cold rise.  The dough balls rose significantly in the fridge, perhaps even more than doubling?

When I prepared the pizzas themselves, I found the dough less easy to roll than my standard dough, even at room temperature.  I used my fists to drape the dough over as I found gravity more helpful than anything else I was trying.  

I then did my standard pre-baking of the dough on a heated pizza stone before adding the toppings to place ~4 inches away from the broiler.  The result was a chewier dough than we are used to, but not one that was unpleasant.  The crust held up to the toppings, and had a nice yeasted flavor.  

I think my next step is to try my standard pizza dough recipe (with King Arthur pizza flour) using the food processor and going from there.  Excited to see what this innovation, that is so much easier on my arms, results in!

Instant Pot Indian-Spiced Cauliflower Two Ways - Winning Technique

Thanks to the Ministry of Curry Instant Pot cookbook, I discovered a new way to prepare cauliflower with the Instant Pot.  And no, the result isn't an over processed cauliflower mash, but rather nicely just-tender florets.  

The secret?  One minute of high pressure followed by a quick release and removing the cauliflower (1/2 head, cut into 2-inch florets) from the Pot.  Voila!  That's it!

Yes, I could talk about the recipes I used to prepared the above served dishes, but neither was fabulous.  The first was Julie Sahni's Gohbi Sabzi, which similar to many of the Classic Indian Cooking recipes I have tried was quite bland.  The second was the Essential Indian Instant Pot Cookbook Curried Cauliflower with Peas, which was a bit over spiced from the coriander (1 tbsp in recipe, which I reduced to 1 tsp, but was still too much), garam masala, and tomato that didn't quite land.  But the technique is one I will use to find a quick prep cauliflower to my liking!

Lisa Fain / The Homesick Texan's Salsa Tatemado - Mild, Smokey Tomato Salsa

With Cinco de Mayo fast approaching, I decided that I wanted to up my salsa game and turned to the excellent Homesick Texan for advice.  I settled on Lisa Fain's salsa tatemada recipe because it seemed sufficiently different from other salsas that I've made.

The salsa ended up being quite easy to prepare, even with my substitution of tomatoes on the vine for plum tomatoes and my use of a foil-lined quarter baking sheet instead of a skillet.  You basically roast the heck out of the ingredients before blending the ingredients with salt and water.

The result was smokey, mildly spicy, and had an unexpected herbiness from the fresh cilantro blended into the salsa.  I added extra salt to to get more of the ingredients' flavor to come out, and moving forward I will likely play with the cilantro ratio.  There was something  unpleasant I found about the fresh cilantro blended in with the roasted ingredients, even though I otherwise like cilantro. 

Regardless, this will likely be a recipe repeat this summer!

Incredibly Fast Hot & Sour Napa Cabbage

With some withering napa cabbage in the fridge, what to do?  Put it in the wok!  

But for my first carbon steel wok experience, an important lesson was learned - wok cooking is very fast!  I learned this through overcooking the cabbage, which meant cooking it for 6 minutes instead of 4, which the Cook's Illustrated recipe I used recommended.  I also didn't adjust the sauce ratio for the smaller amount of napa cabbage that I used, so the result was not only overcooked, but also a little watery.

Despite those issues, the cabbage still had a wonderful flavor - tangy and slightly spicy.  I will make this recipe again, but with everything prepped well prior to flash cook the cabbage.

Rancho Gordo's Lentil and Carrot Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette - A New Lunchtime Staple

When I ordered my first supply of Rancho Gordo beans, I signed up for their email list which includes periodic bean recipes.  If the first recipe is an indication of how good their recipes are, consider me a fan! 

Their lentil and carrot salad with mustard vinaigrette was delicious - the lentils (earthy), parsley (herby), carrot (sweet), and mustard vinaigrette (tart) all individually and collectively shined in this simple salad that can last for days.  I can see myself making this not only for lunches, but also for summertime gatherings as a healthy side.

The modifications I made included:

• Used 1/2 cup dried lentils, cooked for 7 minutes high pressure in the Instant Pot (natural release)
• I didn't measure the vinaigrette ingredients apart from the mustard, and I used approx. 2/3 of the vinaigrette (leftovers in a conventional lettuce salad later in the week)
• Used 5 small carrots

Jessica Murnane's Delicious Za'atar Sweet Potatoes and Kale

Sumac has made a comeback in my kitchen.  After not touching it for five years, I've used it twice in the past two months.  Today's version is thanks to a delicious sweet potato and kale recipe via Epicurious and cookbook author Jessica Murnane.  

I simplified the recipe by following some of the commenter's approach of just roasting the 1/2-inch sweet potato chunks for 25 minutes (stirring once at the 15-minute mark) instead of parboiling then roasting the potatoes.  I also inadvertently simplified the recipe by not tossing the potatoes in za'atar before adding to the kale, rather just added the za'atar at the end to both the cooked kale and sweet potato.  

Key tips - don't skip on the za'atar.  It really makes this deliciously tart, spiced, and earthy meal come alive.  I also didn't mix the olive oil in the za'atar to store the leftover za'atar (excellent on popcorn!) for longer.  I will definitely make this again as a healthy and hearty side dish or lunch in the future.

Vegan Pho - Surprisingly Easy and Delicious Complete Meal

We ordered our first pho delivery of the pandemic several weeks ago, which reignited my desire to make vegan pho at home.  I've been quietly planning for this moment for years, with star anise in the pantry and dried rice noodles at the ready.  But whenever I've thought about actually making vegan pho, I've rejected what I thought would be a too-consuming effort to produce a quality meal.

Of course, the punch line is that making top-quality vegan pho at home couldn't be easier.  You don't need to simmer the broth for too long (30 minutes before adding the vegetables and noodles) thanks to charring ginger and onion in broiler beforehand to achieve deep flavor.

The final broth is umami-rich and deeply sweetly spiced, with almost caramel notes, and contrasts nicely with the fresh cilantro, scallions, and chile.  Thanks to two online recipes - Gimme Some Oven and Cookies and Kate - for providing basic guidance and inspiration for my personalized, mushroom-free approach.

Ingredients

(2-3 main course servings)

• 1/2 red onion, halved
• 1.5 inch piece of ginger, cut into 3-4 large chunks
• 1 star anise
• 2 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp. Better than Bouillon No Chicken Base
• 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
• Splash of rice vinegar
• ~8-10 Baby bok choy, cleaned and halved, or greens desired
• 1/2 package dried rice noodles, prepared via package directions (I soaked in hot water for 30 minutes while the soup broth simmered)
• Diced scallions, cilantro, green chile, or other toppings (e.g., Thai basil, sprouts) to taste
• Lime wedges for serving

Directions

• Pre-heat broiler on high, and place halved red onion and ginger on baking sheet.  Broil on high for 8 minutes approx. 4 inches from broiler, turning once halfway
• In a soup pot or dutch oven, dry toast the star anise, cloves and cinnamon for 3 minutes on medium-high heat or until fragrant
• Add 6 cupes water, charred onion and ginger, Better than Bouillon, and tamari, and bring to a boil
• Reduce heat to medium and simmer broth for 30 minutes
• Remove the spices, ginger, and onions from the broth, and add a splash of rice vinegar and the halved baby bok choy.  Cook for 3 minutes, then add noodles for another 2 - 4 minutes.
• Served immediately with scallions, cilantro, chile, and lime wedges

Updated Favorite Homemade Vegetable Noodle Soup - with Potatoes and Kale

With some leftover potatoes and kale in the fridge, I decided to do the easiest thing I could think of - throw them in a soup!  

I used my favorite vegetarian noodle soup recipe, and added the cubed potatoes in for 9 minutes to fully cook while the ripped kale only took a few minutes.  Both were fantastic additions to the soup, with the kale in particular really adding to satisfying meal.  Look forward to adding these again to my future soups!

Creamy Spiced Cranberry Beans - Great Hands-Off Meal Side or Taco Filling

After my last cranberry bean debacle, I set out to make a better version of these well-loved beans.  I started with ATK's Cranberry Beans with Tequila, Green Chiles, and Pepitas recipe, though I made some simplifications along the way.  

First, I halved the recipe.  Second, I omitted the sour cream, pepitas, and pickled shallots topping.  Third, I cooked the beans for about 50-60 minutes, which while less than the 75 minutes called for in the recipe, was still a little too long for the halved beans.  So maybe 40 - 45 minutes is better moving forward?  

The result though was fantastic - extra creamy beans, lightly spiced, and a great filling for tacos.  These would also be a great side to any meal.  I look forward to making these largely hands-off beans again and again.

(doesn't look good, but tastes great!)